


Sixteen and achingly shy?

by radekofboktor



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25108054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radekofboktor/pseuds/radekofboktor
Summary: Leo Fitz has a problem. He isn't allowed to work alone and he doesn't think he can find a partner at SHIELD. Flashback to Fitzsimmons first encounter.
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Sixteen and achingly shy?

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I wrote this four years ago after that scene where they go “Can we start over, back to where we started?” /  
> “Sixteen and achingly shy?” in 3x11 and never published this.  
> I figured it was time. There are maybe inconsistencies with what we've watched so far? Idk, it's been 4 more seasons after I wrote this ssdklfjlsdf. I intended to make this a double fic (as in one from Fitz POV -this one- and another with Simmons POV, but I wasn't able to start with the Simmons one so anyway, I'll post this in case anyone cares about it).

_“Can we start over, back to where we started?”_

_“Sixteen and achingly shy?”_

_“Two people, endlessly inquisitive, about to embark on a relationship that will change their lives but they don’t know where it will go.”_

_“I’m Jemma Simmons, biochemist”._

_“Leopold Fitz. Engineering.”_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having grown up in a world full of science and mysteries, he had never had the time or the courage to actually ask someone on a date. It wouldn’t have mattered though, because whenever he met a pretty girl and started wondering what it would be like to date her, he’d become a mess and stay away from that person for months. Truth is, Fitz had always been alone and he liked it that way, it was safe and, to be honest, no one at all the small schools he attended was able to keep up with his mind, always trying to solve some problem no one else really cared about and boring everyone around with the details.

So when he arrived at SHIELD’s Academy of Science and Technology, barely sixteen years old, the least of his problems was not having dated anyone, or not even having a single friend to miss in this new life he was now starting. He was at SHIELD’s Academy and that only made his legs go jelly. He had definitely been the brightest wherever he went –because of her job, his mom moved a lot within Scotland– and he was always well aware of it, but that was there, in Scotland, which now in comparison felt like a lost rock in the middle of the ocean. What if he was a complete disaster and they sent him back after two weeks? What if his ideas weren’t what they were looking for? _What if he wasn’t good enough?_

Two weeks went by and they hadn’t sent him back to Scotland, so Fitz allowed himself to feel a bit more confident in the Academy. From that moment on, he started to shine in most of the courses, and even if Fitz thoroughly enjoyed being the best at something, he started to feel a bit anxious about all the attention he was bringing towards his person. So he started fighting, out of sheer panic, the growing attempts from their classmates to get to know him with grumpy exchanges and awkward silences. Soon he was left alone, and even if he inwardly knew that he didn’t want to spend all his life on his own, he often deluded himself into thinking he was better off alone and that there would be time later – after all, he was just sixteen.

Six months passed and Fitz continued to be alone for the most part of his days. Academically speaking, that was working perfectly because he had never had such a streak of ideas. Not all of them worked, he had to study in more depth other areas that weren’t his forte, but he was optimistic about it. Fitz was happier than ever in this amazing facility where he could have access to all the tools and knowledge he needed and nothing or no one was going to spoil this for him. Unfortunately, changes were upon his perfect schedule and if someone hated changes, that was Fitz.

If there was something SHIELD was proud of, it was its agents’ abilities to work as a team. Everybody knew that you had zero chances to escape from Agent Romanoff if you were her target, but pair her up with Agent Barton and you better turn yourself in and get it over with. Strike Team Delta was the only team made of two people and that itself was an anomaly, for the majority of SHIELD was made up of countless more-than-two-people teams. Fitz had never thought about teamwork being mandatory –after all, he wasn’t an agent having to rely on other people not to die out in the field– he was just supposed to become a scientist in a lab with only some subordinates around who would attend his needs. So when in the middle of the year, he realized he had to find a partner for some extra work they had to make outside the classes, he felt as if he had just been punched in the face. How could he find a partner if the only thing he had done till now was pushing people away? No one would ever want to work with him and even if they would, he had never been a teamwork player, it would be a disaster.

When he was about to knock on the door to ask yet another professor –his last option, he had already tried three and no one would listen to his reasons– to make an exception and let him work alone in the new projects, he heard his name said with a distinct British accent from someone behind him.

“Leo Fitz! Finally!”

Fitz’s fist froze before the door and he turned himself around just to see what he had already guessed. Jemma Simmons was the one calling him, all smiles and excitement. And Fitz wondered if the world had just stop moving or even started going backwards for he had no idea why one of the best students at the Academy –and prettiest, she was so pretty he had troubles to remember how to breathe whenever he saw her– was yelling his name with such enthusiasm.

Unable to articulate one single word, he looked at her with what he hoped it was a questioning look in his face. She was finally close enough to him to lower her voice to a normal volume and Fitz tried to focus on what she was saying instead of obsessing over her perfect hazel eyes – something about… working together?

“Wait what?” Fitz was trying to understand what was happening. “You want to- to work wi—with me?”

“Have you not paid attention? I’ve just talked to professor Vaughn because there was no chance I was doing this work with anyone, well at least not _anyone_ , and while I was telling him, or more like demanding him to let me do this thing on my own, he mumbled something that sounded like ‘Another one?’ And when I asked him about that, he just said ‘I’ve just denied Mr. Fitz that privilege so it’s only fair that I deny it to you too. Here in SHIELD we like to promote teamwork so--’”, she mimicked Vaughn’s tone, “I interrupted him right there, after all we are aaaall very acquainted with SHIELD’s motto and I didn’t need to hear it yet another time. But also because I recognized your name!” Simmons beamed with excitement.

“You—did what now?” Fitz was starting to feel dizzy after so many words. They were still standing in front of what would’ve been Fitz’s last chance's door and it was suddenly opened by the person inside, who looked anything but pleased.

“What’s going on here? Oh, Ms. Simmons I thought I recognized your voice, is it really necessary that you both maintain this conversation in this specific spot? I can barely concentrate in there with all the noise”, she groaned.

Simmons looked a bit mortified and after some rushed apologies, she took Fitz’s arm and dragged him out of there.

“But I needed to talk to Ms—” Fitz tried to escape from Jemma’s grip but failed and Simmons interrupted him.

“You were going to ask her if you could work alone on those extra projects, right?” Jemma looked impatient now.

“Well, yeah—”

“It’s a waste of time, that’s what I was trying to explain before! Really, I’m starting to rethink this whole thing, maybe you’re just as useless as the rest.”

Fitz was finally free of Simmons’s hand and rubbing the part of his arm where she had held him. Looking up to her face, he didn’t know what to do or say. Part of the reason why he wanted to do the projects alone was because the few people whom he would’ve felt at ease working with had all their partners chosen (well and had it not that been the case, they wouldn’t have agreed to work with him either, he was sure of it) and the ones that still hadn’t paired up with another student, were either not intelligent enough (Fitz could be a bit conceited at times) or their skills were not the ones he needed for his concept designs (therefore there was no use for them… okay, scratch that off, he was a total jerk sometimes).

It had not escaped his notice that there was one person that would pass his extremely specific filter. And yes, against all odds, that person was in front of him asking to be his partner and had he been a normal human being, he would be ecstatic. But unfortunately, he was not, so he had to find a plausible reason to turn her offer down. Because there was no way he could ever work with Jemma Simmons. The reasons were very present in his head as his eyes were unable to stop wandering around all her perfect features and his voice was somewhere unreachable, his mouth only being able to open and close without emitting any sound. He just wanted to run away from there before he did something painfully embarrassing but instead, he surprised himself as he blurted out what had been bothering him for a few minutes now.

“I’m sorry, you said you recognized my name? What do you mean by that?”

“Come on, everyone at this point knows the brilliant first-year Leopold Fitz. You cannot be that oblivious.” Simmons had a curious look on her face now, as if she was wondering if he was being modest or totally unaware of the world that surrounded him. Realizing that he might not know who she was, she started to introduce herself.

“I’m Jemm—”

“Jemma Simmons, I know”

It was Simmons’s turn of being surprised. “Oh, that’s rather…”

“Creepy?” Fitz would have kicked himself for blurting that out but there was nothing he could say now to make it better so he averted her eyes for a second until he heard Jemma’s amused voice.

“I was going to say it was rather flattering.” Her tone changed to something in between angry and worried. “Why would you say creepy? I know _your_ name. Are you implying that I’m creepy?”

“What? No- no of course not, I just…” Fitz didn’t know how what to say and Jemma’s questioning look wasn’t helping him concentrate. Seeing that he wasn’t going to speak, she fought back.

“So… you know me, huh?” Jemma had a strange look in her face.

Fitz rubbed his neck and muttered “Well, you’re always in the library, sitting there with your pretty hair in a—, I mean,” he realized he was babbling and just finished saying “you’re the best student here, of course I know you.” Fitz prayed she hadn’t heard the part about the hair. Unable to look at her, he grimaced and closed his eyes. If she didn’t think he was a creep before, she would be thinking it now. The earth could open just about now and swallow him and he’d take it as a blessing. Or a lightning bolt could hit him right there, maybe he’d get powers like The Flash and make a run for it. Too bad they were indoors, and in any case, the day was uncharacteristically sunny. Mother Earth was not going to help him get out of this.

When he finally opened his eyes it seemed like a whole hour had passed (it was actually just a couple of seconds). No sound had come from Simmons so he risked giving her a peek but Jemma was staring at him with an indecipherable expression. At least Fitz was incapable of interpreting that look.

“So how is that, being the best students in the Academy, we haven’t exchanged a single word? That’s just ridiculous.” Simmons seemed a bit annoyed now.

“Well…” Fitz was at a loss of words again. He certainly couldn’t tell her that he didn’t want to work with her because he was scared to make a fool of himself. And he was just proving how right he was to stay away from her. Barely ten minutes with her and he was a complete mess and borderline rude. He just wanted to get back to the safety of his room, but Simmons seemed to be determined to get what she wanted because she started to talk about the extra projects again.

“Look, do you want to get a bad grade? Of course not, your average score is almost as good as mine-” a small part of Fitz’s brain wondered why she knew so much about him and his grades, then he realized he knew that much about her too so maybe she… nah, she must have been examining the competition “- and if you refuse to do these works, you won’t be able to keep it. So, not many choices here, just give in. I’m your best option anyways, I feel as if everyone has already chosen their partner and you won’t find a more hardworking person than me. Why am I even the one begging? It should be you the one imploring me to work with you.” Simmons was beginning to get worked up.

“Okay”, Fitz let the word out in a mumble, realizing she was right and that he had no other choice. Besides, if he could stop being awkward around her, they could make a good team; based on their areas of expertise, they complemented each other rather perfectly.

Jemma was still trying to convince him as she seemed to have not heard him, “So why aren’t you- wait, did you just say okay?” Simmons’s eyes were now impossibly wide open. “I thought it would take me longer to convince you, I’ve been told you’re a tough nut to crack.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have many choices here”, Fitz tried not to sound very defeated. “You’ve presented very persuading arguments.”

“So… should we make it official?” Simmons held out her hand and waited some awkward seconds for Fitz to finally reach it and shook her hand. “Great! Now we can start! Do you have any ideas? Because I have so many and I can’t wait for you to—” Jemma sounded as if she was going to start working right away.

“But… you mean now? It’s almost half past seven”, Fitz was overwhelmed enough for the rest of the day, and the week if he was being honest, and needed some time to process what he had just agreed to.

“Yes? Well I suppose I can wait until tomorrow… are you busy now?” Simmons looked a bit disenchanted and Fitz resisted the urge to change his mind just to see her smile again and just told her they could meet first thing tomorrow morning.

“Okay then, we’ll meet in the study room by the library at 8 tomorrow morning!” Simmons’s smile made a shy appearance again when she said goodbye to Fitz. He was suddenly too aware of how her smile brightened her face and could barely stutter a flustered ‘see you’ back before he almost ran away from there to his bedroom.

Fitz threw himself on his bed, face on his pillow. ‘ _What have I just done? This is going to be a disaster, why did I agree to this, I should’ve tried with more teachers, one could’ve actually agreed. But on the other hand… she’s really the most brilliant student here, we could do so many things… if only she wasn’t so damn pretty.’_ Fitz snorted; he might be the only person in the world annoyed at the attractiveness of his soon-to-be partner. Unable to find a solution for his problem, he decided to give up, set the alarm and try to sleep.

****

When the alarm went off the first time, Fitz barely understood what was happening and he just hit the phone to stop the infernal sound. The second time it sounded, he wondered if the building was on fire and why they were bothering him with such a trifle until he realized it was his phone and turned it off. The third time, he opened his eyes in panic and finally remembered he was supposed to be meeting Simmons and cursed out loud. It was not usual of him to oversleep, but even though he had collapsed on his bed quite early, he hadn’t been able to finally fall asleep until 3 am.

He had been thinking about working with Jemma Simmons. He really wanted this to work out but looking at his past attempts of socializing, he was already cringing at the thought of reliving the experience. Then he had thought they didn’t need to actually socialize, they were just partners working on something together. That made him wince even harder because he knew he could sometimes be a pain in the ass and there was no way Simmons was going to put up with him. His next thought left him wondering what would happen if Simmons didn’t think he was good enough. After all, she was the best student of the year. With all this jumble of thoughts, which he revisited over and over again, and no solution for his dilemma, he hadn’t been able to sleep until his mind was too tired of it and just thought that maybe the new day will clear his head.

After having some leftovers he found on his desk from the day before as breakfast, he realized he had the same clothes as the day before. Looking at the clock, he decided to have a quick shower and set a new record: it took him 5 minutes to be prepared and out of there with a bunch of papers and his laptop. He figured Simmons would prefer to wait a couple of minutes than to see him all unkempt and sleepy. He had had to choose one of his Doctor Who shirts as it was one of the few decent he had left, but he figured that with his jacket over it, she wouldn’t notice it. Not that he was ashamed of it but it wasn’t what he had expected to wear the first day at work with Simmons —he had actually thought for a while the night before about what he would wear the morning after, unaware that he didn’t have many choices.

The good thing about being late is that your mind can only focus on getting in time to the meeting, so when Fitz ran to the study room he could only hope Simmons was not there yet so he would be the one who had to wait. All his confusing thoughts from the night before were forgotten in his rush to get there. Unfortunately, when he finally arrived, he saw that Jemma had already invaded one of the biggest tables available in there. Papers were all over it and Jemma was concentrated, looking a bit disheveled while she was writing and drawing without looking up. Fitz froze, confused, and looked at his watch. It was only 8:03, she couldn’t have possibly arranged all that in three minutes, _what the hell?_

Suddenly, Simmons looked up ( _had he just cursed out loud?_ ) and she saw him. A strange look crossed her face for a fraction of a second -Fitz thought he might have just imagined it but he checked his outfit in case there was something wrong with it- but she immediately waved with a shy smile. Fitz started walking towards her and looked around; they were alone as all the remaining tables were empty.

“Hi! Weren’t- weren’t we meeting at eight?” Fitz tried not to get distracted with all the adorable hairs out of the bun and fought the urge to fix them.

“I know, but I couldn’t slee—”, she coughed, rather adorably, before continuing, “I mean I couldn’t wait to show you this and tell me what you thought”, her eyes went to his hair over and over again and her voice sounded a bit strangled. Fitz drove his fingers through his curls wondering if they looked THAT bad and realized he was probably making it worse. So he stopped and grabbed a chair, sitting next to her, far enough to be able to focus but close enough so it wouldn’t feel awkward.

“Oh, maybe you should’ve let me know, now I feel so… what do you have here?”

*

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language and nobody but me checked this. If you find any mistake, you can totally tell me and I'll fix it. Anyways, I would love to read your thoughts about this!


End file.
